Flush transmission
10-15-2009, 10:40 PM
#42
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Why the big worry about this? Don't flush the fluid... Just go buy 4 quarts of WS fluid from your dealer, get the car hot then pull the plug. Let drain and refill with 3.5qts. Do this every 10-15k miles and your fluid will be good as new.
I did mine at 17k and 30k, and my fluid is identical to brand new in color. Red as can be.
Dealer told me they will not flush the transmission, unless specifically ordered by customer. Otherwise, they just do fluid changes to not risk damage.
But yeah, the fluid change is 1/2 the work of an oil change, so why not do it? Remove plug, let drain, plug it and torque, and replace fluid. Easy as that.
I did mine at 17k and 30k, and my fluid is identical to brand new in color. Red as can be.
Dealer told me they will not flush the transmission, unless specifically ordered by customer. Otherwise, they just do fluid changes to not risk damage.
But yeah, the fluid change is 1/2 the work of an oil change, so why not do it? Remove plug, let drain, plug it and torque, and replace fluid. Easy as that.
10-16-2009, 12:28 AM
#43
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Let me get this straight..... So your saying that just doing a "Drain & Fill" is JUST AS GOOD if not better than doing a full transmission flush? What do you do for a living? It's an honest question. I would like you to answer it. Please.
10-16-2009, 02:21 AM
#45
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Dude, what the hell got your panties in a bunch? Honestly...
I NEVER said that drain/fill is better than a flush. Read what I said again, you will not find such a statement. I was just saying what to do as preventative maintenance versus doing a full out flush. Not to mention, flushes are "grey areas" for a few car manufacturers. But I am not saying that is the truth.
By doing drain and fills, you will replace partial percentages of the fluid. After 3-4 drain/fills you will replenish a lot of the original fluid. No, it will not be 100% clean as the ratio will be exponential, but additives will be replenished. I don't feel like doing the equations, but I can honestly tell you, it does make a difference.
Oh, and like it matters what I do, I will entertain you anyway... I am a 3.5 year mechanical engineering student with a little more then 1.5yrs+ of mechanical engineering job experience, including ceramics, computed tomography and aerospace.
I was just giving my insight into the subject, I did give the "end all" statement you make it seem to be.
Anyway...
I NEVER said that drain/fill is better than a flush. Read what I said again, you will not find such a statement. I was just saying what to do as preventative maintenance versus doing a full out flush. Not to mention, flushes are "grey areas" for a few car manufacturers. But I am not saying that is the truth.
By doing drain and fills, you will replace partial percentages of the fluid. After 3-4 drain/fills you will replenish a lot of the original fluid. No, it will not be 100% clean as the ratio will be exponential, but additives will be replenished. I don't feel like doing the equations, but I can honestly tell you, it does make a difference.
Oh, and like it matters what I do, I will entertain you anyway... I am a 3.5 year mechanical engineering student with a little more then 1.5yrs+ of mechanical engineering job experience, including ceramics, computed tomography and aerospace.
I was just giving my insight into the subject, I did give the "end all" statement you make it seem to be.
Anyway...
Last edited by Invertalon; 10-16-2009 at 02:44 AM.
10-16-2009, 11:45 PM
#49
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Invertalon Thank you. I was wondering what you do because you are a 21 year old man with an "opinion". Not a lot different than most anyone out there. I guess I do get my panties wadded up because I have made my living as a highly trained professional in the automotive repair business for a very long time now. I am sure that if I got on a site and told folks something about your field that led people to do things that were not in their best interest I would wadd you up at least a little. I was looking to compair some portion of your field to how you responeded.
Truth is that flushing a transmission is the only way to remove deposits. It's the only way to "clean" the inside of the transmission. It's the only way to get the torque converter (in an automatic) fluid cycled out. A proper fluid flush will cycle on average 16 quarts of fluid through a system that does not hold 16 quarts. It also adds a cleaner at the start of the flush to do the cleaning and a conditioner at the end of the flush to promote smoth shifting.
As you are well aware, as a machine runs, the friction creates wear, changes tolerances, changes performance. It talkes something much less than the width of a human hair to cause your transmission to stop working correctly. Simply draining out a portion of the fluid and topping it off is a much better alternative than just doing nothing. Truth is that doing a full flush is the correct way to do it.
Why does Toyota say no to flushing? It would take a while to go through all of it, but for the most part it boils down to WARRANTY COVERAGE. Leave it alone and it will surely last to beat warranty. Take KIA & HYUNDAI, they have it in writting that if you do not flush the trans every 30K, they will not honor your 100K powertrain warranty portion that covers the transmission. Why? Cause the warranty period is so long. Hmmmm....If your like me and will keep it till the wheels fall off, then flushing it every 30-50K miles will extend the life and like new performance of the trans.
I will get off my rant now. I don't want to make anyone mad, I just want to be sure that people know the truth about what the "Dealers" or should I say the industry as a whole has been telling folks for years. Most service advisors know nothing about their industry. But I agree that I got into a wadd to an extent. Sorry. Nothing intended by it. Rant off now.
Truth is that flushing a transmission is the only way to remove deposits. It's the only way to "clean" the inside of the transmission. It's the only way to get the torque converter (in an automatic) fluid cycled out. A proper fluid flush will cycle on average 16 quarts of fluid through a system that does not hold 16 quarts. It also adds a cleaner at the start of the flush to do the cleaning and a conditioner at the end of the flush to promote smoth shifting.
As you are well aware, as a machine runs, the friction creates wear, changes tolerances, changes performance. It talkes something much less than the width of a human hair to cause your transmission to stop working correctly. Simply draining out a portion of the fluid and topping it off is a much better alternative than just doing nothing. Truth is that doing a full flush is the correct way to do it.
Why does Toyota say no to flushing? It would take a while to go through all of it, but for the most part it boils down to WARRANTY COVERAGE. Leave it alone and it will surely last to beat warranty. Take KIA & HYUNDAI, they have it in writting that if you do not flush the trans every 30K, they will not honor your 100K powertrain warranty portion that covers the transmission. Why? Cause the warranty period is so long. Hmmmm....If your like me and will keep it till the wheels fall off, then flushing it every 30-50K miles will extend the life and like new performance of the trans.
I will get off my rant now. I don't want to make anyone mad, I just want to be sure that people know the truth about what the "Dealers" or should I say the industry as a whole has been telling folks for years. Most service advisors know nothing about their industry. But I agree that I got into a wadd to an extent. Sorry. Nothing intended by it. Rant off now.
10-17-2009, 01:01 AM
#50
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I understand, but I never said I did not agree that flushing is worthless, because it IS the proper practice to caring for your transmission. I guess re-reading my initial post it may have seemed that I was against flushes, but my intention was totally different. I was simply giving my input and opinion based off what I read throughout the topic (scanned).
I agree with your points and explanations as well as respect your background. You know and understand what most people never will. Like I said, I was simply addressing those folks that do not want to flush due to various reasons.
A flush by far is the best solution to replacing your fluids. By doing drain/fills, the amount of "new" fluid introduced is exponentially decreased and will NEVER be 100%, even if you do over 3,000 changes, for example. It just will NOT happen.
I never meant to get on your bad side, or anybody else's. Just offering my .02 here and there.
I agree with your points and explanations as well as respect your background. You know and understand what most people never will. Like I said, I was simply addressing those folks that do not want to flush due to various reasons.
A flush by far is the best solution to replacing your fluids. By doing drain/fills, the amount of "new" fluid introduced is exponentially decreased and will NEVER be 100%, even if you do over 3,000 changes, for example. It just will NOT happen.
I never meant to get on your bad side, or anybody else's. Just offering my .02 here and there.
10-23-2009, 06:57 AM
#55
10-28-2009, 10:36 PM
#60
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Location: Houston, TX
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I am sure there is. One thing I found out though is that it is cheaper to buy a new transmission and new oil than it is to get my transmission flushed. So I guess at 50-60k miles I will just buy a new trans instead of worrying about a flush.